“Nils is part of our IT team and was down to help replace some servers,” IceCube communications manager Laurel Norris told us in an email. “Blaise and Felipe are just now starting their stint as winterovers – meaning they will be at the South Pole for the entire winter (24 hour darkness). Aside for a short trip to the coastal research station of McMurdo, they will not leave the South Pole until Nov 2013.”

As it turns out, IceCube researchers spend a lot of time thinking about the future of open. In its data policy (PDF), IceCube echoes the Antarctic Treaty’s provision that “to the greatest extent feasible and practicable, scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available.” For information on data sharing in Antarctica, see our case study on Polar Commons.